I am now retired, away from the demands of
professional life and, with more time available, I enjoy cooking more than
ever.
Some combinations come back regularly and their
preparation is pretty much automatic. For other, more creative dishes, ideas
seem to emerge naturally before I start cooking. Sometimes, I change course in
the middle because I have run out of a particular spice or because I suddenly
think of a possible variation or improvement. I rarely use recipes, let alone
look them up in one of my cookbooks.
It also seems that my cooking is getting healthier and
more austere every day, with short cooking times and little fat, away from
permeation and complexity, into happy combinations, authenticity and
simplicity. Actually, I do not need to eat a “cooked” meal twice
a day. A fresh salad or a good sandwich can be as satisfying.
Sharing our life between the rural south of France and
the Bay Area in the United States, choices that we made consciously, we are
blessed with some of the best products this earth can still offer us. I
feel it is my human duty to honor them as well as I can.
Again wisdom comes from the Far-East, precisely
from Zen Buddhist monks who, without any inkling of shame or guilt, pronounce
happiness desirable and tie it in very naturally with a quest for taste.
Every one
of their 4 precepts is a gem to ponder consciously:
§ Be fully aware
when cooking…
§ Cook serenely…
§ Cook joyously…
§ Cook like a
mother…
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